I seem stuck at 220 lb -- same thing I said to Gnu; stick to food plan and sooner or later the body WILL let go of the weight.


I'm quoting this not to single out MAG, but to make a couple of general comments-- learned the hard way-- that may help someone else.

1. It may be that you are actually muscling up but that the clothing change isn't obvious yet. If so, you HAVE lost fat, and THAT is the muscle that will soon start to burn off the rest of the fat (because your metabolism will rise). The first spot to measure to see this is not the scale-- it's a high-waisted line around you, just below your boobs. For women, it's where the lower band of the bra would sit. For men, it's where the bra band would sit if you put a bra on. Why? Because that is the most accessible spot where fat has built up that is not also subject to the sags of gravity that may fool your measuring tape. THAT is the measurement to take periodically to watch your progress. The rest of the bodyfat melts at different rates, depending on your body type. So changes in clothing size may or may not always reflect your progress accurately, but this one measurement WILL.

2. It may be that your RATE of food comsumption does not encourage a long, slow burn of calories all day, overwhelming your body's insulin production. It cannot hurt, and may help, to divide each meal into two portions. Have the first half, a half-hour earlier than your planned meal. (Before you get hungry, in other words.) Have the second half about 2 hours later. If this must be done at work, it will take some time before you accumulate a lot of creative approaches that will work for you, but try it and you will start to see fat melt.

3. It may be that the COMPOSITION of your food plan does not encourage the long, slow burn. It's easily fixed: a fruit, a carb, and a protein in EVERY meal or snack. A whole-fruit, not a fruit juice. It can be canned (drained), or dried, but you need the fiber in it for the slower burn. How much? Half a banana, half a grapefruit or less, half an orange, a whole plum, etc. (Think plum-size for your fruit portion.) Or it may be that you do not process carbs well. IF YOU ARE EXERCISING you need those carbs, so plan how much you need, apportion it out over the whole day, and eat it. If it gives you cravings for more, that are not in your plan-- eat the whole-grain, high-fiber substitute that will slow down the burn.

4. It may be that your portion sizes are too big. The simplest way to fix this is to measure out a week's worth of meals ahead of time and eat only what you have planned to eat. If still hungry at the end of a meal, add the hated salad with plain lemon juice and herbs as dressing, to fill you up. If you have divided your total planned food for the day into small enough quantities per meal, you will find that you really do not get that hungry. Make friends with air-popped popcorn. Use only olive oil as the fats for each day because they're good for you, and use at least a total of 2 tablespooons of that each day because otherwise your fat-soluble vitamins will not absorb in your body. A little spray of it here, a little there, and your food will taste fine. And here is a tip on cheese-- don't buy that horrible skim-milk crap. (The only dairy that's yummy, nonfat, is yogurt!!!) Buy the good stuff, but buy it feather-shredded. You will use so much less, while it looks like a lot, that you will not believe how long it takes you to finish up the large bagful. Keep it in the freezer so it's not in plain sight in your fridge and it will stretch even longer.

5. It may be-- and this is usually the doctor's or the dietician's FIRST accusation-- that you are eating or drinking things not in your plan. Keep a diary just for one week, just for yourself, to check what extras you may be drawn to. And then plan healthy subsitutes you will be happy to have instead.

6. If ALL THAT doesn't start to work within a couple of months, it's time to get the endocrine system checked out. It may also be time to make a consutative appointment wiht a trainer to make sure you are exercising in the right range for your goals. You may be exercising so hard that you are in an anaerobic zone-- the one where you burn nothing and end up starved? Check it out. You may have gone at this so hard that you're not burning any fat!

7. Food is your friend. Make friends with it. Learn all about it, and fill up on the parts of it that are good for you. Treat is like a necessary evil, or, conversely, like your new love.

8. DON'T try to lose too fast. All you will do is confuse yourself into the next yo-yo of gain (physiologically), and burn up heart muscle. Aim for an initial loss of 10% of your weight. Then maintain that awhile. Only when that maintenance is easy should you go after the next 10%. That way you benefit your hypertension, you allow maximum skin shrinkage, you protext your cardiac status, and you build the habits into your life.

~Susan